Photo Courtesy: Alicia Magliato
Student Spotlight: Alicia Magliato
From spotted owl surveys with the U.S. Forest Service to native garden design in San Francisco, Magliato returns to UCSB to study habitat restoration.
Written by Olly Johnson
“Hoo-hoo-hoo-hooo” - a perfect rendition of a northern spotted owl was delivered after some encouragement. In 2021, Alicia worked with the Forest Service and gained some unique skills in the Sierras. The northern spotted owl has dark eyes, dappled plumage and finds itself on the IUCN’s red list with a declining population. They need all the help they can get. Enter Alicia.
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Raptors, Owls, and a Career Taking Flight
One year earlier, Alicia Magliato graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), with a degree in Zoology and has built up a wonderful array of experiences since. We sat on the beach with the ocean as our soundtrack, diving into Alicia’s background, taking the occasional pause to admire curlews and other shorebirds coming into land.
During her time as an undergraduate, Alicia worked in the D’Antonio restoration lab researching native plants and fuel breaks. Life after graduation came with COVID-related challenges and she unfortunately lost her funding; however, a position with the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network, tending to raptors, owls and seabirds, kickstarted working life once more. She recalled caring for the animals in shed-like structures behind the official Care Network office, which, thankfully, have since been upgraded. But her work with owls and raptors didn’t stop there.
What Is It Like to Survey Spotted Owls for the U.S. Forest Service?
Part of her next role, with the Forest Service, was to locate nests of species including the aforementioned spotted owl and the northern goshawk, in order to ensure their protection from logging. She recalled tough hikes, and receiving funny looks from mountain bikers as they searched for their target species. In an attempt to find the elusive birds, a combination of audio speakers and human renditions were used. Alicia laughed, looking back on her first day - “We didn't know anybody. There's six of us, and we had to practice our owl calls. And it was so embarrassing, but so much fun.”
From Birds to Native Plants: Magliato's Shift in Focus
Birds of prey aside, Alicia has a passion, paired with a wealth of knowledge, for native plant species – you may recall her internship which was cut short thanks to COVID? After her work with the Wildlife Care Network and the Forest Service, she decided to head back to her home county of Santa Cruz to earn a degree in horticulture. This led Alicia to her favourite job, working as an ecologist for the City of San Francisco. Her days here ranged from working in the native plant nursery, to conducting field surveys of rare and endemic plants.
Talk of native plants continued as we discussed planting them at home. Alicia gained hands-on experience with native garden design and planting during her horticulture degree – something I could benefit from given my current planting success rate.
She discussed the nuances of the job and her experience, saying, “I learned a lot about garden design. And then went onto start doing native plant garden designs on my own for friends and families. And then I got some other clients. And so that was really fun, but it's stressful too, because I wanted to get everything right, and research the exact micro habitat they're in, and things like, what plants? Where does the water pool? Where’s the sun at this angle?”. During this time, she also volunteered for her local California Native Plant Society, presenting to large groups of people about techniques for regenerative and wildlife friendly gardening at home.
Left Image: Alicia with a Sierra garter snake during fieldwork. Right Image: A bird identification guide for surveys.
Coming Full Circle at the Bren School
With all of these experiences under her belt, Alicia came full circle, returning to UCSB, specifically, to the Ben School of Environmental Science and Management. The decision to return came after conversation with a Bren alum. “She does mitigation banking”, Alicia told me. “She basically tries to talk to farmers who have like hundreds of acres in the Central Valley, that are just sitting there, you know, degraded cattle land. She tries to convince them to turn it into restoration habitat for mitigation”. These types of corridors can have benefits for so many species and are a vital component of the restoration space.
Only two weeks into the program and it’s already clear that this is going to be a busy couple of years for Alicia. “Gosh, orientation was a bit overwhelming”, she said with a wry smile. Needless to say, this was followed by plenty of praise and excitement. The first day of class ocean dip, forming strong connections, and supportive faculty, had all stood out to Alicia in her first couple of weeks. It’s going to be a busy couple of years both in and out of Bren and Alicia is eager to make the most of it.
She is already planning to get involved in research on one of the UC reserves; a chance for her to dive back into native plant and wildfire research. The communication focus is also on her radar and she hopes to gain and utilize these skills during her time here. Outside of studies, there’s plenty on the to-do list as well – surfing, sunset dips, volleyball, and caring for her “fifty houseplants” are all on the agenda.
From zoology undergrad, to owl carer, to native plant landscaper, and now back to education again; Alicia’s commitment to our environment is clear and it fuels hope to have people like her making a vital difference. Be sure to keep an ear out for her owl calls and an eye out for her progress during Bren and beyond.
About Alicia Magliato
Growing up in a town nestled between the redwoods and the ocean, Alicia Magliato developed an early appreciation for biodiversity and ecology. She earned an A.S. in Biology before transfering to UCSB, where she graduated with Dean's Honors for a B.S. in Zoology and a minor in Spatial Sciences. During and after her undergraduate education, Alicia worked as a wildlife rehabilitation specialist for predatory birds and as a biological technician for the U.S. Forest Service throughout California. In response to the pandemic, Alicia returned to school and earned an A.S. in Landscape Horticulture. Inspired by Professor Doug Tallamy’s book Bringing Nature Home, Alicia started a small landscape design business focused on transforming lawn space into ecologically functional wildlife habitat using regionally appropriate plants. She then joined the Natural Resources Department of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission as an ecology intern, where she continued her work with native flora in both urban and wildland contexts. While living in the Bay Area, she established roots with environmental justice communities she met while volunteering at local urban agricultural spaces. Alicia is now pursuing a graduate degree at the Bren School in Conservation Planning and Water Resource Management with a Communication focus. Her academic interests lie at the intersection of ecosystem resilience and community engagement, and she is particularly interested in the integration of environmental equity into our urban and degraded landscapes through thoughtful restoration projects and collaborative land management strategies.
